Going Home

To understand why this group of people, who specialized in dealing with ghosts during their lives, had all gathered in this chat group after death. The meaningless three words "Jialan Society" might be a significant breakthrough, and also the name of the organization they founded in life.

As the saying goes, geese leave their calls, and people leave their traces. As a citizen born in the 21st century, Gao Tian didn't believe that out of so many people, not a single one had ever left any trace online. The only difficulty was how to find information about their lives.

Dozens of pages popped up on the webpage, most related to script-killing games, games, and anime. It was clear these weren't what he was looking for.

[As I write this, I hope readers will remember our domain name, t̸̸w̸̸k̸̸a̸̸n̸̸.c̸̸o̸̸m̸̸, for finding novels. It's super convenient.]

Gao Tian filtered out this junk information and scrolled to the bottom, discovering a closed forum. The forum was registered in '13 and was named "Jialan Society." The signature description below was only a short line:

We are Ghost Hunters who silently protect the living during the day and fight against the netherworld.

Forum owner: Living Person Apartment.

Administrators: Ghost Infant, Ghost Cave, Burning Death Ghost... one familiar name after another. Gao Tian had already seen some of them in the group chat.

Every characteristic matched. There was no mistake; this forum was founded by these people who had now become ghosts.

Ghost Hunters.

Was this what they called themselves in life?

It was truly ironic to think that a group of people who fought against ghosts their entire lives had all become ghosts after death, clinging to existence in a small chat group like some shameful, dirty things.

Gao Tian wanted to learn more about these people's lives and, without hesitation, clicked on the forum's homepage.

In retrospect, this was a rather imprudent step.

The entanglement with the Shattered Face ghost proved that many ghosts could be transmitted through images and memes, truly embodying the idea of "look at it once, and it will come through the internet cables to kill you."

If this abandoned Jialan Society also contained posts with mental contamination and curses, then Gao Tian, who had just escaped the Shattered Face ghost, might face even more terrifying Vengeful Ghosts after stumbling into it.

Whether it was luck or misfortune, all the posts in the forum had been deleted, leaving only two. All members who followed the forum had also had their accounts deleted, their avatars turning gray-white.

"I'm planning to retire after this task is handled."

Poster: Ghost Infant.

Post time: 2017.

Content:

This task really pays a lot of money.

After it's done, I'll basically be financially free. Should I consider retiring?

Retiring at 25, won't that be a bit early?

I won't be a Ghost Hunter anymore, no need to worry every day about dealing with these dirty things. Will living an ordinary life feel a bit uncomfortable?

What should I do then? Travel the world, go back to school for a master's degree, or open a bookstore?

In any case, if I do something I truly want to do, just thinking about it makes me excited.

Another post.

"In the 'Living Person Apartment' supernatural incident, discovered some essence of ghosts."

Poster: Living Person Apartment.

Post time: 2018.

The content of this post has been deleted. Please click on other posts to take a look.

The second post was locked, leaving only a title. It couldn't be accessed.

Gao Tian slowly put down his phone.

The group owner "Living Person Apartment" got his name because he had been to the Living Person Apartment.

Then, did "Ghost Infant" also handle a supernatural incident called Ghost Infant? Did Ghost Cave handle a Ghost Cave incident? Did Burning Death Ghost handle Burning Death Ghost?

Could it be that these Ghost Hunters used the most difficult supernatural incidents they handled in their lives as their titles?

It's like some people, who are so old they can't remember their spouse's and children's names, but still clearly remember which year they were admitted to Tsinghua University.

What a shame. This forum is too old, and every user has been deregistered. One post was Ghost Infant complaining, and the other, more important one, was locked.

It's impossible to follow this lead and continue investigating.

Suddenly, Gao Tian thought of someone.

If he could suddenly find a hacker who understands network technology to take a look, maybe they could unlock this locked post.

The first person Gao Tian thought of was Cao Hua, a senior two years ahead of him. This person was also a legendary figure in high school, winning a silver medal in all information technology competitions in his second year of high school. He was later admitted to Jiaotong University through recommendation. In his first year of university, he hacked into the school's academic affairs system and changed his failing sports grade to a perfect score. After the incident was exposed, he received a major demerit.

Cao Hua and Gao Tian used to have a good relationship. However, they hadn't been in contact for a while. He didn't know if he could help with this matter.

Gao Tian looked through his contacts, dialed the familiar number, and made the call.

Five minutes later, a familiar voice sounded. Even through the phone, one could sense how mischievous the owner of this voice was:

"Hey, son, it's been a while since you called your old man. What made you think of your father at this hour?

"You never call out of the blue without a reason. Spill it, are you just missing daddy's love?"

Gao Tian had just gone through a life-or-death struggle and didn't have time for this greasy fatty's banter:

"Cao Ge, I've run into a bit of trouble here and need your technical support.

"Help me sort it out, and I'll treat you to a meal when it's done."

Cao Hua:

"My son's business is my business.

"Go ahead."

Gao Tian asked:

"I saw a very important post online. But the Tieba forum it was on has been abandoned for so long that everything in it has been deleted.

"Is there any technical way you can help me open it now?"

When it came to his professional matters, Cao Hua's tone shifted from his usual flippancy, becoming a bit more serious:

"I can't guarantee it, but it's usually recoverable.

"If the platform hasn't completely purged it, I can try to recover it through server backups and database logs.

"If the platform has permanently cleared it and deleted the backups... finding it might still be possible, but it'll be more troublesome."

Gao Tian:

"Sorry to trouble you, Cao Ge.

"These are pretty old posts, so the backend backups might be gone."

Cao Hua:

"What father doesn't love his son? How about this, send me the link via WeChat first. I'll take a look at the specifics and get back to you when I have time.

"I can't talk now, I'm having coffee with Xue Mei."

Beep, beep, beep.

The call ended with a dial tone from the other end of the phone.

Gao Tian sent the link to the Jialan Society and decided to leave it at that for now, awaiting news from Cao Hua.

In the meantime, he needed to find a place to stay for the night. Where would be a suitable temporary lodging?

Gao Tian thought for a moment. He hadn't been home in a long time, and he couldn't return to his rented apartment. So, he decided to go home first.

He sat on the bus, and after about an hour, it stopped in front of an apartment complex in a more suburban area. Gao Tian got off.

Perhaps it was because he hadn't been back for nearly half a year, but as Gao Tian walked back into the neighborhood where he grew up, he felt a sense of unfamiliarity.

At the entrance to the residential building's first floor, a crooked plaque bore some writing. Unfortunately, the characters were long since rusted and covered by the creeping vines that had overgrown it.

As Gao Tian walked in, head down, three young people were sitting around a bench in the first-floor lobby, playing some kind of card game. There was a silver-haired boy with eyes narrowed into slits, a girl in a Lolita outfit, and a bald young monk in gray robes.

As Gao Tian passed, the girl's shoulder twitched. Even without looking back, Gao Tian could feel her gaze fixed on his back.

The gray-robed monk was engrossed in the cards in his hand, his head never lifting.

Gao Tian walked to the elevator shaft. The elevator in this old residential building only went up to the third floor, but he lived on the fourth. He'd have to climb the last flight of stairs himself.

He pressed the up call button, and the elevator's double doors slowly slid open. Gao Tian stepped inside.

He remembered he hadn't been back for more than half a year either. He had been away from home for so long this time. He wondered what his parents' reaction would be when they saw him suddenly return.

After exiting the elevator on the third floor, he walked up the stairs to the fourth. He stopped in front of a very familiar apartment door.

Looking at the stickers he'd put on the metal door as a child, with remnants still visible after they'd been peeled off, he finally felt a sense of familiarity.

The door was slightly ajar, not fully closed. Gao Tian gently pushed it, and the hinges let out a pained groan as the metal door slowly swung open.

The sound of a television program came from the living room. His father's back was visible as he sat on the sofa, facing away from Gao Tian.

The sound of stir-frying came from the kitchen; it must be his mother. She also heard the door open, and her voice carried from the kitchen:

"Gao Tian, why are you back so suddenly?

You must be exhausted lately. Go rest in your bedroom for a while. I saved it for you, and I'll add an extra pair of chopsticks for lunch today."

His father's silhouette remained fixed on the television, his head not turning. His voice also carried over:

"Tian Tian, weren't you preparing for your exams outside? Why did you suddenly come back?

Did something happen? Are you short on money? I transferred your living expenses for this month yesterday."

Gao Tian didn't know what to say. The bizarre encounter that night, and how he played games with ghosts to escape alive, was simply too unbelievable.

He didn't know if his parents would believe him if he told them. Even if they did, it would only make them worry for nothing and be unable to help.

Gao Tian just wanted to find a safe place to sleep and regain some energy. Then, he wanted to remove the cardboard from his finger and go to the hospital for bone setting.

As he walked towards his bedroom, he casually offered a vague explanation:

"Yeah, something happened, and my apartment might not be habitable for a while."

"I'm going back to sleep for a bit. You and Mom don't need to save any food for me. My hand's a little injured too, and I have to go to the hospital again this afternoon."

His mother's voice came from the kitchen again:

"What kind of injury did you get on your hand? I always tell you to be careful, be careful.

"I'll put the food in the fridge for you. Dad and I are going out this afternoon. You can get it from the Second Floor yourself when you wake up."

Gao Tian walked towards the end of the Corridor. The second-to-last room was his Bedroom.

But when he pushed open the door to his Bedroom, which he should have been incredibly familiar with, Gao Tian was completely stunned by the scene before him.

No, this wasn't his Bedroom at all.

Whose Bedroom was this?